Brush and holding device therefor

ABSTRACT

A brush and holding device for mounting on a wall of a bathtub or shower, the holding device comprising a back section and a plurality of tabs spaced from said back section and defining therewith retaining areas. The brush includes a body portion dimensioned to be removably received by said retaining areas, the bristles of said brush extending substantially beyond said tabs so as to present a continuous bristle surface for contact by the user.

atent James M. Atkins Box 322, Whispering Pines, N.C. 28327 4,906

Jan. 22, 1970 Jan. 4, 1972 inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented BRUSH ANDHOLDING DEVICE THEREFOR [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,639,366 8/1927 Brown 4/184 1,577,565 3/1926 Creegan 4/184 2,187,977l/1940 Large 4/184 Primary Examiner-Leon G. Machlin Attorney0berlin,Maky, Donnelly & Renner 3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

l 6 U 8 Cl l r ABSTRACT: A brush and holding device for mounting on aInt Cl t A47'k 7 /02 wall of a bathtub or shower, the holding devicecomprising a Fieid 4/184 back section and a plurality oftabs spaced fromsaid back sec- 15/146 6 tion and defining therewith retaining areas. Thebrush includes a body portion dimensioned to be removably received bysaid retaining areas, the bristles of said brush extending substantiallybeyond said tabs so as to present a continuous bristle surface forcontact by the user.

/ n [4 H a I 5 PATENTEUJAN 4mm 3,631,560

SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR JAMES M. ATKINS BYMMfQWvW TORNEYS PATENTED JAN41972 SHEET 2 [IF 2 INVENTOR JAMES 'M'. ATKINS ORNEYS BRUSH AND HOLDINGDEVICE THEREFOR The present invention relates as indicated to a brushand holding device therefor, and relates more particularly to a brushand holder assembly adapted for particularly advantageous use inbathtubs and shower stalls to facilitate the cleaning of hard to reachportions of the body, such as the back.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Owing to the difficulty of a person tocontact and clean the upper back portions of the body, whether in abathtub or shower stall, there have been previously proposed severalback-scrubbing devices to facilitate cleaning of that portion of thebody. These have not been altogether satisfactory for a number ofreasons. Reference is particularly made to US. Pat. Nos. 3,115,322device 2,730,737, both of which disclose rather expensive assembliesmounting motor-driven brushes. Although the assemblies shown in thesepatents do accomplish the intended purpose, they are relativelyextensive in size and, with respect to US. Pat. No. 2,730,737, anessentially permanent installation is required to mount the assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A further object of the invention is to providea brush and holding device wherein the brush is releasably retained bythe holding device at a desired height to facilitate cleansing contactwith the difficult to reach back portions of the body, and wherein thebrush can be simply and quickly removed from the holding device forwashing other areas of the body or for brush-cleaning purposes. Thislatter feature is particularly important where the brush and holdingdevice of the present invention are to be installed in commercialestablishments such as hotels, motels and the like, where the bathingfacilities are continually used by different individuals.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide, in oneform of the invention, a holder capable of adapting itself toessentially any wall configuration. This feature is par ticularlyadvantageous for bathtub installation wherein varying degrees of wallcurvature are presented. By adapting to es sentially any curved surface,this form of the invention permits precise mounting of the holdingdevice to provide the desired contact with the individual s back.

These and other objects of the. invention will become apparent as thefollowing description proceeds, in particular reference to theapplication drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of atypical shower stall, having mounted therein the brush and holdingdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded, front elevational view of the holding device andbrush, with the latter being shown removed from the holder;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the holding device of the FIG. 1form;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the brush and holding device ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of an alternative form of brush andholding device constructed in accordance with he present invention,shown mounted on a bathtub;

FIG. 6 is a top plan, fragmented view ofa bathtub having as an integralpart thereot'a brush holding section;

l-'l( l. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the brush and holding device ofthe invention, shown mounted flush on the wall of a shower stall or thelike.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail tothe application drawings, wherein like parts have been indicated by likereference numerals, and initially to the form of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. I4, there is illustrated therein a typical showerstall installation generally indicated at 10 and including a rear wall12. Mounted on wall 12 is the brush and holding device of the presentinvention, with the entire assembly being generally indicated at 14. Asbest seen in FIGS. 24, the assembly 14 comprises a brush holder 16 and abrush 18. The holder 16 includes a solid back portion 20, generallyL-shaped side tab sections 22 and 24, and a bottom, generally L-shapedtab section 26, all of which are formed integrally with the backwall 20.The forward, inwardly directed, ends of the tab sections are spaced fromthe backwall 20 and define therewith in the areas of these tabsretaining sections for removably retaining the brush 18.

The brush 18 includes a body section 28 and bristles 30 which can beattached to the body in any suitable manner forming no part of thepresent invention. The thickness and length of the body section 28 issuch as to permit placement of the brush in the brush-holding device asshown in FIGS. 2 and 4, with the tabs 22, 24 and 26 retaining the brushin the holder.

On the back of the holder body 28 are mounted a plurality of suctioncups commonly designated at 32, there being four such cups in the formshown spaced in a generally rectangular pattern on the body. In awell-known manner, the suction cups 32 are adapted to mount the holdingdevice on the wall I2 of the shower stall.

It will be noted that the bristles 18 of the brush extend substantiallyoutwardly from the tab sections 22, 24 and 26, and that the bristles arecut so as to form a convexly curved surface. In this manner, the usercontacts only the brush, with the convex surface of the brush morenearly complementing the natural configuration of the persons backthereby enhancing the cleansing operation.

It will be understood that the holding device can be verti callypositioned on the wall in a desired location, and that the size of thebrush, and holding device, can vary significantly. In the form shown,the brush I8 is depicted as being approximately I2I6 inches long, andsubstantially less in width. However, the brush could be of smaller orlarger dimension, and the ratio of length to width can be varieddepending upon the requirements of the ultimate consumer.

The installation and use of the brush and holding device illustrated inFIGS. 1-4 should be obvious from the above description. When not usingthe brush for cleaning the individuals back, the brush can be removedfrom the holder by simple upward movement thereby permitting the brushto be used to clean other portions of the persons body, or to clean orreplace the brush. This removability feature is of particular importancewhere installations are in commercial establishments such as hotels,motels and the like operating under rather stringent health codes. Forexample, the brushes could be removed, sterilized and replaced aftereach room occupancy.

Referring now to the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5, thebrush construction shown therein is identical in all respects to thebrush illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and described above, and the samereference numerals have been accordingly applied, with an attachedprime. The holding device in this form of the invention difiers fromthat previously illustrated and described. The holder assembly,generally in dicated at 36, comprises a first section 38 and a secondsection 40 hinged to the first section through a hinge pin 42. Thesection 40 corresponds to the holder I6 previously described, comprisinga solid back section 44, and side and bottom tabs commonly designated at46. Suction cups commonly designated at 48 are likewise provided,mounted on the back side of the body section 44 for attaching thatsection of the holding device to the inclined wall 50 of the bathtubgenerally indicated at 52. 5

The first or upper section 38 of the holding device is similarlyprovided with preferably a pair of suction cups 54, only one of which isvisible in FIG. 5, for mounting the section onto the generallyhorizontal, top surface 56 of the tub.

It will thus be seen that the hinged holding device 36 is capable ofbeing mounted on a widely varying surface configu ration. It istherefore particularly adaptable to a bathtub installation as shown inFIG. 5. It will be seen, however, that the holding device 36 could aswell be mounted on a vertical surface such as the shower stall wall 12shown in FIG. I, or any curved surface varying from that shown in FIG.5.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, there is shown therein a further form ofthe invention wherein the brush holder is integrally formed with thebathtub. The bathtub is generally indicated at 60 and includes aninclined rear wall 62 terminating in its upper end in a generallyhorizontal top surface 64. The wall 62 is preformed so as to include aninset portion 66 and a plurality of inwardly directed flanges commonlydesignated at 68. These tabs, as can be seen jointly in FIGS. 6 and 7,are similar to the tabs formed on the removable holding devicespreviously described and function to form with the inset wall 66 aretaining section for a brush. A brush is not shown in either FIG. 6 orFIG. 7, but would be employed in a manner similar to that previouslydescribed.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown therein a brush holder 30 built intothe wall of a shower stall, the latter being generally indicated at 70,and shown faced with wall tiles 7], which can be of conventional plasticor ceramic type. The holder is constructed in essentially the samemanner as the separate, removably secured holding device shown in FIGS.1-4, comprising a back portion 72 and side and bottom tab sectionscommonly designated at 74. The back section 72 can be mounted in anysuitable manner on the wall 70, for example, by adhesive or fasteners,or both, with the back section 72 preferably being of the same generalthickness as the wall tile so as to provide a flush mounting. The holdercan be installed at any desired height suitable for general utility.Although not shown, the brush would be mounted in the holder in the samemanner as above described, and illustrated in FIG. 4.

In all ofthe several forms illustrated and above described, a commonfeature is the removability of the brush for cleaning or replacement, orfor cleaning other areas of the body. The forms of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. I-5 are further characterized as being separate andadaptable for quick suction cup mounting on the bathtub wall or showerstall wall with the FIG. 5 form being further characterized by beingadaptable to essentially any surface configuration.

lclaim:

I. A brush and holding device adapted to be mounted on a wall of abathtub or shower, said holding device comprising a back section and atleast one tab extending from said back section and terminating in aninwardly directed end portion spaced from said back section and definingtherewith a retaining groove, means for mounting said back section on asurface of the wall, said brush means including a body portion and aplurality of bristles extending outwardly therefrom, said body portionbeing of a dimension to fit within said retaining groove, said brushbristles being of sufficient length to extend in a direction away fromsaid holding device substantially beyond said tabs so as to present acontinuous bristle surface for contact by the user, said holding devicefurther including a second section pivotally mounted to said backsection for random angular adjustment relative thereto, said secondsection being provided with means for mounting said second section on awall surface.

2. The brush and holding device of claim I wherein said back sectionincludes a plurality of tabs formed at the sides and bottom ofsaid backsection, with each of said tabs extending from said back sect|on andterminating in an inwardly directed end portion space from said backsection and defining therewith retaining areas, said back section beingopen at the top for placement or removal of said brush means.

3. The brush and holding device of claim 2 wherein said means formounting said holding device comprises a plurality of suction cupsmounted on the rear side of said back and second sections of saidholding device.

1. A brush and holding device adapted to be mounted on a wall of abathtub or shower, said holding device comprising a back section and atleast one tab extending from said back section and terminating in aninwardly directed end portion spaced from said back section and definingtherewith a retaining groove, means for mounting said back section on asurface of the wall, said brush means including a body portion and aplurality of bristles extending outwardly therefrom, said body portionbeing of a dimension to fit within said retaining groove, said brushbristles being of sufficient length to extend in a direction away fromsaid holding device substantially beyond said tabs so as to present acontinuous bristle surface for contact by the user, said holding devicefurther including a second section pivotally mounted to said backsection for random angular adjustment relative thereto, said secondsection being provided with means for mounting said second section on awall surface.
 2. The brush and holding device of claim 1 wherein saidback section includes a plurality of tabs formed at the sides and bottomof said back section, with each of said tabs extending from said backsection and terminating in an inwardly directed end portion space fromsaid back section and defining therewith retaining areas, said backsection being open at the top for placement or removal of said brushmeans.
 3. The brush and holding device of claim 2 wherein said means formounting said holding device comprises a plurality of suction cupsmounted on the rear side of said back and second sections of saidholding device.